The NFL has released two new commercials as part of its “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” campaign, which is a humorous brand initiative playfully leaning into meme and pop culture that claims the league is scripted.

Set to a backdrop of the “NFL 104th season table read,” the spot features comedian Keegan-Michael Key as director, and Vikings QB Kirk Cousins, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jason Kelce, Ja’Marr Chase, Jalen Ramsey and more as actors brainstorming outrageous storylines for the 2023 season.

In the opening of the video, Key is recapping better-than-fiction stories from last year, mentioning the Kelce brothers in Super Bowl LVII, Mr. Irrelevant saving the Bay (Brock Purdy’s relief role for San Francisco) and a halftime baby announcement, but soon the cast of star players reel off their own ideas and plot twists for the ’23 season. DK Metcalf volunteers to do no-handed, abs-only catch, some players agree the Mahomes “character” should get struck from the script, and Cousins – who’s wearing the chains that earned him the “Kirko Chains” nickname last season – wants to see a shirts-versus-skins game.

“Our goal was to make this campaign tongue-in-cheek, humorous and clever in the way we tapped into popular memes and cultural conversations about the league and its incredible real-life storylines that are better than anything you could make up,” said NFL Chief Marketing Officer Tim Ellis. “We really wanted to have fun with this and not take ourselves too seriously. We hope fans get a kick out of the campaign”.

Developed in partnership with agency 72andSunny, the campaign will feature 16 pieces of content in key moments throughout the year, such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas and International Series games. It will run on run on TV, digital and social.